A good voice has aroused against monju, as expected, because of his only wicket on both innings. His ability to keep the batsmen quiet is unfortunately got concealed with this deed.

I believe that our bowling was far better than batting. The worst performer was definitely Sumon with Hannan following him. If we only look at performances of the first test, monju should still be the 3rd choice to be fired.

Another thing is if we consider replacement of monju, its Tareq or Alamgir; though with big hearts, both lacking of experience. Rather the replacements for Hannan are Shahriar or Kapali, who proved their talent already on occasions.

But with any kind of final selection, the players really need to compose themselves for any good coming.

I think dropping hannan from the openers position is a mistake. He has not been very consistent lately, however, everyone agrees about his mettle as an opener though he shuffles across too much. I think we ought not to tinker too much with the top. Bringing Rokon in to open will be a disaster. Manju will be dropped. Only if we had Masri, I beileve, Zim would have never got 441 in the first innings. All you need is one good wkt taking ball that Masri can provide and Manju cannot. I will go with tareq or alamgir.

tnb

February 25, 2004, 01:37 PM

i think u sort of answered ur question. monju can check the runs, but thats not of prime importance in test. we need to take 20 wickets and thats where he failed to contribute. so, there is nothing wrong in trying someone else.

Now, for batting. yap i think hannan needs some well deserved rests. infact, now looking at Ash i am very much in favor of giving the batsmen 'a rest', if they are not performing well over a long period of time. specially when the failure stems from lack of concentration rather than some technical flaws (a. la. suzon). he played well against australia, so i beleive his technique is probably ok for someone facing the shining ball.
sumon. well, i will comment on him if he gets 10 more ducks. even for the 'old times' sake he deserves that.

Rubu

February 25, 2004, 01:43 PM

Test bowling is all about getting wicket. we need someone who can company rafiq on that. drop monju. but instead of alamgir, i'd prefer tareq aziz. i know he is new, but his performance on the practice match can't be just insidence. may be it has something to do with zim's playing style or the pitch. give him a chance. we've to remember this is our last chance to win a test in a reasonably long time.

bhobishshot

February 25, 2004, 03:53 PM

I am not in favor of dropping some one based on performance in one test. In case of Manju, we are in luck. He has played 17 test or 34 innings. Here are the stats:

He has a strike rate of 106! What does that mean? It means that he gets a wicket about every 17.67 overs. On an average he bowls about 14.56 overs per innings. He will get about 1.65 or less then 2 wickets per test match (2 innings). Some one else will have to get the rest of the 18.35 or more than 18 wickets for us to bowl out our oppenent. Luckily, we have a few of those players in our team who can take wickets; ie. Rafiq, Taposh, etc.

People in this board has repeatedly raised the point about his ability to contain batsman and others have presented counter argument. I just want to emphasize the counter argument. Consider the possibility of having five Manju like bowlers, bowlers who are capable of containing batsman but has very little wicket taking capability, in our team. If we field a team like that then we will ristrict our opponent from scoring a lot of run in the begining but eventually our opponent is going to have too many wickets to spare and start scoring comfortably and pile up a huge total. On the other hand, considering the possibility of five strike bowlers like Masri, Rafiq, and Taposh. I would pick five strike bowler any day, even if their econ was little bit higher. Therefore, in my opinion, strike rate is more importent than econ. I also believe this to be true in the ODI.

Should Manju be dropped? When I look at his stats, I don't see why he shouldn't be. When I look at his performance in Namibia and first test (he was able to contain but not strike), I don't see why not. When I see two hungry bowlers waiting on the side line, waiting for an opportunity to be proven, I don't see why not.

If it would satisfy those who still has faith in Manju, let him play a few more matches. After that drop him for good, unless he proves himself to be a strike bowler.

[Edited on 25-2-2004 by bhobishshot]

Carte Blanche

February 25, 2004, 04:02 PM

Nicely put bhobisshot. Yes we need wicket-taking bowlers for the test match. Even in ODIs I won't consider Monju anymore. May be I will, if Tareq/Alamgir fail to impress us in the opportunities which they'll get very soon. As you mentioned, hunger is the key here. Actuallly that's exactly what happened in the 2nd test. We had 3 fairly quick wickets, and then the 'containing bowlers' bowled some miserly overs. True that the batsmen were bogged down for a while, but eventually they got ominously settled, played the big shots, and piled up a big score. I really think having Alamgir/Tareq in the team for the 2nd test will make a good difference. I was voting for Tareq, but seems like Alamgir will get the nod. Anyway, good luck to him, hope he can justify his inclusion.

Bhobishshot very well said... I totally agree with you... besides the last point... I think he shud be dropped now (apparently BCB thinks the same way, alamgi came in his place for the 2nd test). We are desperate for results... no point playing a player who we know isnt good enuf...

P.S. MY 666th post... the devil's in the house... :cool:

[Edited on 25-2-2004 by radicalsami]

Mahmood

February 25, 2004, 04:18 PM

I am convinced that Monju is finished. So lets go ahead with other alternatives.

SS

February 25, 2004, 04:26 PM

what alternatives we have??
so far the bowlers we got except Masri..who is threating...we could have use left and right pace attack combo like the two W's...but not sure why they are even teaching Monju his faults and why can't they make him for fierceful!!!

Rana didn't get dropped. I just cheked daily star and it had Rana instead of Kapali.

adnan

February 25, 2004, 04:58 PM

Rana is playing!

cricinfo

AsifTheManRahman

February 25, 2004, 05:55 PM

Originally posted by adnan
Rana is playing!

cricinfo

of course...what do you expect?

reverse_swing

February 25, 2004, 05:58 PM

Originally posted by adnan
Rana is playing!

cricinfo

why not?

Rubu

February 25, 2004, 06:04 PM

alok is not in the squad. the only difference from the first test is that manju is replaced by alamgir kabir.

rafiq

February 25, 2004, 06:21 PM

guys, that's a lot of very deep analysis on monju. but quite simply he is better suited to the one day game than tests, because of his ability to contain vs take wickets. Whatmore should have gone with Alamgir or Tareq in the first test, it's not monju's fault that he played. Although Alamgir/Tareq look good once in a while, you can't be sure about them performing in the second test. I think Monju still has a future in one days, and him just being on the squad is good for the younger bowlers.

fwullah

February 26, 2004, 12:18 AM

My opinion is, Alamgir did not deserve to play in the last 2 test matches that he played.

This is for the first time in his short career, that he is getting a deserving chance to play test cricket - in his 3rd test match.

AsifTheManRahman

February 26, 2004, 12:55 AM

Yes but he is doing so by over taking better ppl....

reinausagi

February 26, 2004, 01:43 AM

Monjurul Islam has a special role to play in the BD team. That is to stem the flow of runs. He needs to play in tandem witha strike bowler like Masri. Manjurul frustrates the batsmen...they hit out against Masri/Rafique... and viola!

The problem with playing Manjurul in ODIs is also double-eged. The poor guy just can't bat! No runs will be forthcoming from his willow. But, his ability to duck, bob, and weave in order to stay at the crease is not up for debate. As a non-scoring dead-bat, he is more suited to the test version.

Ironically, I can imagine him being a very successful bowler against the crossbatting, lathicharging, jharoo-ing, Bangladeshi batsmen.